Fire and Ice
by Magbob
Summary: The Golden Trio are captured by Snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. While the boys are trapped in the cellar, Hermione is tortured by Bellatrix before being handed off to Malfoy, who takes her up to his bedroom. Hermione fears the worst, but it turns out her former enemy, might be the only one who can save her.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings: torture, insinuations of rape**

**I don't own Harry Potter etc.**

The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before. It felt like she was being burned and cut and beaten all at once. Bellatrix had been 'chatting ' with her for nearly 3 hours and although Hermione had managed to stay strong for so long she could no longer hold in the screams. They pierced the air, so loud they could be heard by her friends in the cellar. Draco, who was standing rigidly in the corner, winced and averted his eyes from the body of the broken girl who was lying splayed of the floor of his once beautiful house.

Narcissa stepped forward "Bella it's almost midnight and I'm tired, can we perhaps continue this in the morning?" she called to her sister.

Bellatrix stood up and glared at her sister "Fine" she pouted.

"What shall we do with her?" Narcissa gestured at Hermione who had curled up into a foetal position, clutching her arm where the word mudblood stood out livid on her pale skin.

Bellatrix thought for a moment before smiling in a way that would make even the most insane cringe. "Draco" she called out "I have a present for you. You did well at the Lovegood's last week, you may have the Mudblood for tonight."

Draco approached his aunt with a blank expression on his face "Thank you auntie, I shall enjoy this" he said winking at his aunt as he grabbed Hermione's arm "Get up Granger" he ordered as he dragged her to her feet and out of the room.

xxx

Down in the cellar Ron and Harry realised that the screaming upstairs had stopped.

"What do you think has happened" said Ron who had been pacing the cellar for the last 3 hours, pausing every so often to try and break down the door. Hearing the screams of the girl he loved had been worse than any physical torture he could have endured.

"I don't know" Harry replied. He was slumped on the floor next to Luna who they had discovered had been stuck in the cellar for the last week. Ollivander and Griphook the goblin were also down there and were currently talking in hushed tones in the corner of the room.

"Why has the screaming stopped?" Ron demanded, "Do you think she's…." he trailed off not capable of finishing his sentence.

Harry stood up and walked over to Ron. "No" he replied raising his hands to Ron's shoulders to stop him from pacing. "They probably got bored of her, besides if Bellatrix was to kill her she would do it in front of us" Harry said, always the logical thinker "She wouldn't miss an opportunity to hurt us".

Harry lead Ron over to the wall "Let's try and get some sleep, we aren't going to be able to help her if we're exhausted" said Harry, hiding how truly worried he was feeling.

xxx

Hermione was a dead weight on Draco's shoulder so as he rounded the corner he leant down and picked her up bridal fashion. She tried to struggle but to no avail. He was too strong for her and she was weak from the torture.

Draco carried Hermione up serveral flights of stairs and through down many dark corridors. Hermione tried to remember the path they were taking in case she could escape but eyelids were heavy from exhaustion and bruising. She decided to try and conserve her energy, she knew what Bellatrix had meant when she had said that Draco could "have her" for the night and she wanted to be able to try and stop him when the time came.

Draco finally stopped before a large wooden door at the end of a long corridor and shifted Hermione's weight in his arms so that he could reach the door knob. He pushed open the door and it stepped into the room. Draco's bedroom was just like the rest of the rooms in Malfoy manor, it was large and had the potential to be a lovely room, however it was sparsely furnished in dark dreary colours that made the room seem both depressing and frightening. Draco set Hermione down on the dark four poster bed and walked into the bathroom through a door opposite the bed.

Hermione lay on the bed and tried to gather her strength in preparation for what was to come. The sound of a tap could be heard from the bathroom, and a few minutes later Draco stuck his head round the door and shouted to Hermione. "Get your clothes off Granger".

Hermione sat bolt upright. "No" she tried to shout, but it came out as more of a whisper as her throat was hoarse from all the screaming. She shuffled as far back on the bed as she could, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself.

Draco emerged from the bathroom. He realised how that must have sounded after what his aunt had said, so he cautiously approached the bed, with his hands outstretched in a gesture of surrender.

"I'm not going to hurt you Granger" he said as he slowly sat down at the foot of the bed. If it was possible Hermione seemed to shrink further back into the bed, as far away from him as she could get eyes downcast.

Draco did not seem phased by this. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop her earlier, but she's crazy, and if I'd said something she probably would have been worse."

Hermione finally looked him in the eye, shock written all over face. She couldn't quite comprehend what she was hearing. It seemed that Draco Malfoy had just apologised, which was shocking in itself, but he had also said that he was sorry he couldn't stop his mad aunt from torturing her. But surely a pureblood death eater would love to watch a 'dirty mudblood' be tortured within an inch of her life. He must be playing some sort of game she decided.

Draco, seeing that she wasn't going to believe that he meant her no harm, at least not yet, stood up and gestured to the bathroom. "I've run you a bath. I thought you'd like one after being on the run, not to mention after what my twisted aunt did to you downstairs".

He turned to look at Hermione still cowering on the bed "I promise I'm not going to hurt you Granger, there's towels on the rail next to the bath, there's soap and shampoo and the door locks from the inside".

Hermione started to unfurl as she realised that perhaps he was being genuine, at least about the bath. And the thought of warm water was too much. She slowly started to rise, sliding off the bed on the opposite side of the room to Draco. As she made her way to the bathroom she stopped and turned to him. "How do I know you won't just alohamora the door once I'm in the bath" she questioned.

Draco sighed, thinking how she was still just as annoying as she was in school. He thought for a moment before wandering over to an old chest in the corner of the room. He dug around in it for a minute before grabbing something from the bottom. He stood up grasping in his hand what appeared to a wand, just quite bit smaller than normal. He started walking towards Hermione, noticing her confused look.

"Oh of course, muggleborn." He thought aloud before explaining "It was my training wand, wizarding children get them when they're little to get them used to a wand and so they can start learning a couple of spells. You can only do a couple of pretty basic spells with them. Nothing that could harm" he said, noticing her thoughtful look "But it should let you cast a strong-ish locking charm on the door".

Hermione studied Draco hard. He had managed to surprise her again. She had expected him to laugh or smirk at her comment, or at least ignore it. But as he handed her the wand she didn't shrink back as her instincts were telling her to, thinking that his unexpected move in anybody else would probably have been called kind. What had shocked her most was that he had called her muggle born instead of 'mudblood' and as she walked into the bathroom she was surprised when an unexpected thought popped into her head. What if he really had changed?


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings: torture, insinuations of rape**

**I don't own Harry Potter etc.**

The water surrounding Hermione was starting to go cold so she decided it was finally time to get out of the bath. As she painfully eased herself out of the tub she studied the bruises and cuts that were covering her body, which were now far more visible after she had removed the layer of dirt and grime that had coated her body. She reached for the towel on the rail next to the bath, and relished in its softness as she wrapped herself in it. It was then that she realised that the only clothes she had to get changed into were the ones she had worn whilst she had been on the run which now, after Bellatrix's treatment, were also coated in blood. The thought of putting on those dirty clothes, especially now she was so clean, was not appealing to Hermione in the slightest. Just then she heard a knock on the bathroom.

Xxx

After Hermione had shut the bathroom door behind her, Draco collapsed. He staggered over to one of the armchairs in front of the large stone fireplace room and dropped into it. The air of calm he had been displaying for Hermione had fallen as soon as she had left the room and Draco was finally left to fully think about the series of events that had taken place that night. Seeing the crumpled body of his old school peer on the floor of his own home had been the final straw for Draco. His beliefs in his father and the ideas of pureblood supremacy he had been brought up with had been crumbling for many years, but after witnessing Hermione being tortured as his family stood by and didn't do anything to help had finally brought them all crushing to the floor. Although he didn't agree with the views of Voldemort and his followers, and in fact hadn't done for many many years, Draco's loyalty to his family had kept him from doing anything, however now he decided he had no choice but to act. He had to do something to help Hermione, and really, that meant getting not only her, but also the rest of the golden trio, out of this place.

But first of all he needed to sort Hermione out. He stood up and walked over to the chest of drawers along one wall of the bedroom. He bent down, opening the bottom drawer and rummaged through the clothes to find something suitable for Hermione. He eventually settled on an old, but comfy, Hogwarts t-shirt and a pair of loose tracksuit bottoms that would probably have to be rolled up at the bottom. He walked to the bathroom, with a second thought grabbing a hoodie from the back of another chair and gently knocked on the door.

Xxx

Startled Hermione quickly turned to face the door. She grabbed the wand from where she had left it on the edge of the sink and cautiously removed the locking charm from the door. Once the spell was gone she pulled her towel tighter round her body before slowly unlocking the door manually. Hermione was unsurprised to see Draco standing on the other side of the door, what surprised her thought was the pile of clothes in his arms, as if he had known what she had just been thinking.

"I dug out some clothes for you" Draco said, offering them to Hermione "I thought you'd like something clean to wear" he said with a smile.

Cautiously Hermione accepted the clothes "Thanks" she said before taking a step into the bathroom to get changed.

"You're welcome" Draco replied "They might be a bit big, sorry, I didn't have anything smaller".

Hermione didn't say anything, just stood still looking at Draco like she couldn't quite understand him.

"Why don't you go and get changed quickly and then we can talk" Draco said "I realise that I probably have a lot to explain and it's late already".

Hermione continued to stand in the door way of the bathroom, still as a statue, before nodding suddenly and walking back into the room, locking the door behind her.

Xxx

Hermione emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later and found that Draco had set up a makeshift bed out of blankets and a pillow on the floor and the foot of the bed. He was currently sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, playing with what looked to be an old pocket watch. He looked up at her as she stiffly walked into the bedroom, and gestured for her to take the other chair in front of the fireplace that must have been lit whilst she was in the shower. As she painfully lowered herself into the chair she noted that it had probably been lit by a house elf, and even in her current state this managed to fill her with some indignation.

Whilst he had been making up a bed for himself on the floor, Draco had been thinking about how he would go about not only convincing Hermione that he had changed, but also that he wanted to help her get out of this place. In the end he concluded that no rehearsed speech was going to help him, if anything it would make it seem stiff and more likely to be false, and so he decided just to be honest and see what happened.

As he was thinking of how to start he was saved by Hermione, who couldn't contain her confusion any longer.

"Why are you doing all of this" Hermione asked "Why are you being nice to me? If this is some game I'd rather you not play with me."

"I'm not playing with you, this isn't a game" Draco replied "I want to help you."

"You? Help me?" Hermione replied incredulously "Why would you want to help a mudblood like me?"

Draco winced "Don't call yourself that"

Hermione stared at him shocked for a second "What, is it only you that's allowed to call me that?" she questioned with a sneer, the confidence that she had lost at the hands of his aunt slowly returning to her.

"Isn't that what I am to you, some mudblood that's worth nothing?"

"No" Draco replied simply.

Hermione finally looked at him, properly looked at him. He was no longer the confident, arrogant boy she knew from school. His hair, usually perfectly slicked was hanging messily around his face, slightly too long, meaning that he kept having to pushing it out of his eyes. There were dark purple bruises around his eyes, similar to those surrounding her own, and his face looked drawn and haggard. He looked… broken, she realised with a start. And yet she could still feel a strength radiating from him.

"I don't use that word anymore" Draco said.

Hermione made a noise, like a snort of disbelief.

"I know I used it in the past, but I was just an ignorant kid, brainwashed by his father's stupid pureblood ideals."

"And I suppose you've changed now have you?" Hermione fired back at him, but even as she did so, she started to feel that perhaps he actually had.

"Yes I have. I know it's hard to believe, but let me try and explain."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings: torture, insinuations of rape**

**I don't own Harry Potter etc.**

"I was brought up in a pureblood family, where the thing that mattered the most was blood status. I was taught about half-bloods and muggleborns, and how purebloods were superior to them in every way, in magical ability, in intelligence, in looks, everything. But it wasn't until Hogwarts that I actually met any of these people that I had been taught to despise. Being raised in a fanatical pureblood household didn't really leave much room for mixing with people from non-pureblood backgrounds.

"So imagine my surprise when I get to Hogwarts and I slowly start to realise that these people that I had been taught were less than myself, seemed in fact to be equal. Take yourself for example. I had been taught that purebloods were superior to muggleborns in magical ability and intelligence and such like, and there you were, beating me in every class and being named the brightest witch of her age.

"So slowly, and I'll admit it took me a long time, far too long, I began realise how wrong all the beliefs I'd been brought up with were. But by this time You Know Who had returned and my father slotted right back into the position he'd held in his ranks. But one Malfoy wasn't enough for him. My father had disappointed him over and over again and his failure to capture you lot at the department of mysteries was the final straw. Voldemort decided to punish him by going after the one thing he actually does love - me. As you know I was assigned the job of killing Dumbledore, something that was so dangerous that he hadn't even tried to get one of the full death eaters to try and accomplish. I didn't want to do it, of course I didn't and he knew that, but I had no choice. He knew that too." 

Hermione, who had sat silently through Draco's explanation, had stiffened at the mention of Dumbledore "Of course you had a choice, you could have told someone." She said.

"No I couldn't" Draco said, his raised voice starting to shake "I couldn't do anything but follow his orders because he had my family, Granger. I don't particularly care much for my father after what he has put us all through, but he threatened my mother and brother. Say what you will about me, but I love my mother and Scorp and there was no way I was going to let him hurt them."

"You have a brother?" Hermione asked, surprised "I thought you were an only child"

"Yes I do. His name is Scorpius and he's only 2. He was born a couple of days before the Easter break in 5th year. That's why I went home for the holiday rather than staying at school for Quidditch practice like Potter and Weasel and all the other Quidditch players did."

"I never knew."

"Well now you do" Draco replied with a half smile "Do you understand now why I had to do what I did? I may be a monster in your eyes but I love my family, just the same as you do."

"Yes, I understand." Hermione said "I may not want to, but I believe you, and when you explain it like that, I'm having difficulty believing that I would have made a different decision."

Draco visibly relaxed now that he knew Hermione at least understood the reasons behind some of the thigs he'd done, and choices he'd made.

"I really do want to help you Hermione."

Hermione looked up, shocked, Draco Malfoy had never called her by her first name before.  
She could see the honesty written clearly on his face.

"I believe you" She told him.

Draco suddenly smiled, relief evident in his features, and Hermione couldn't help herself from smiling back at him.

"So how are you going to help me?" Hermione asked, now that she believed that Draco was telling the truth, and that he really did want to help her, she wanted to find a way out of this place.

"Well obviously we need to get you out of here somehow" Draco replied, starting to formulate a plan.

"I'm not leaving without Harry and Ron" Hermione said quickly.

Draco sighed "I know, but that makes it more difficult, somehow we need to get them out of the cellar"

"Can't we just apparate into the cellar, grab them and apparate away?" Hermione asked.

"If only it was that simple. The cellar was altered by the Dark Lord when he took over the manor. It's enchanted" Draco explained "He wanted somewhere where he could hold prisoners. There are anti-apparation wards on the room."

Hermione sighed dejectedly, realistically she knew it want going to be that easy, but she had still hoped.

"Anyway, there's no way you can apparate like this" Draco said.  
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Come on Granger, surely you've read about apparation? Aparating when injured is a really bad idea, the chance of splinching is massive, and some people have died before. After what my aunt did to you, there's no way you can apparate. Not without a ton of healing spells and a few hours rest, and even then it's still really risky." Draco replied.

"Okay, so you heal me, I rest and then we get them in the morning?" Hermione stated.

"It's not as easy as that Granger. How are we going to get them out of the cellar? Its guarded constantly and there's always load of people around."

"Who's guarding the cellar tonight?" Hermione asked.

"I think it's Pettigrew tonight" Draco replied.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard, if we sneak down to the cellar, you stun Pettigrew, we grab the boys and then we apparate out of here" Hermione suggested.

"That might be able to work, but we'd have to wait till the morning for you to be ready to apparate, and by then people would be up and about. We'd have to wait till breakfast at about half 7, and do it when everyone is eating" Draco replied thoughtfully "We could do it though" 

Hermione smiled for the first time in a long time. A plan was starting to come together.

"You'll need a wand to apparate though" Draco said, thinking through the little details of the plan. 

Hermione looked at him confused "But what about your wand, surely you'll have that with you when we all apparate out of here?" she asked.

"I can't leave with you Granger"

"What? Why?"

"I can't leave Scorp and my mother"

"Draco, it's not going to take them long to figure out that you're the one who helped us to escape, especially when you're not at breakfast. You can't stay here, it's not safe. Come with us."

"I know I'm not safe here Hermione, but I've got it worked out. Bella isn't terribly fond of kids so my mother always has breakfast in her room whilst she feeds Scorp. As soon as I've got you lot out of here, I'll take her and Scorp and get them out as well."

Hermione thought about this for a second, but she realised that there was no way she could get Draco to come with her and the boys.

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan. About the wand, I'm sure that Pettigrew will have a wand we can take, they won't leave him to guard the prisoners unarmed."

"You're right" Draco replied "So that's the plan sorted."

At this both Hermione and Draco seemed to relax a little. They knew it would be hard, but at least now they had a plan.

"Right now we should make a start with the healing spells. There's also a great healing potion in one of the stores. It's too risky for me to try and get it for myself, but there's a house elf that can be trusted"

Hermione frowned at the mention of the house elf, but realised that at least in this occasion there was nothing else that could be done.

"Misty" Draco called. A second later there was a loud pop as a small female house elf appeared in Draco's room. At least Hermione assumed the creature was female, the pillowcase it was wearing was a faded pink and it had slightly softer features that the other, male, elves she had seen.

"Master Draco, what can Misty do for you sir?" The elf asked.

"Misty, I need you to get the internal injuries healing potion for me from the store cupboard next to father's office. But you need to make sure that nobody sees you, understand?"

"Yes Sir. Misty will make sure no one sees her Sir" The elf replied.

"Thank you Misty" Draco replied "Please could you get it now, Hermione really needs it"

"Yes of course Sir, Misty will get the potion for the Miss now" The elf answered and with a loud pop the elf disappeared.

Hermione had sat quietly through the whole exchange and was very surprised to hear the kind, respectful way that Draco had spoken to the house elf. It was not the way that she expected one of the pureblood elites to speak to their 'servants'. She recalled how Dobby had always spoken rather kindly of Draco, but she had just assumed that it was his loyalty to his old master that made him do so, but perhaps not.

"Right" Draco said as he turned to her "We should probably make a start on the healing spells"

He picked up his wand from where it had been lying carelessly on the arm of the chair and walked over to Hermione's chair, dragging the coffee table closer to the chair as he went.

He perched on the edge of the table and looked at Hermione.

"Do you trust me"

Hermione pondered about this for a second, weighing up her thoughts. If someone had asked her only a couple of hours ago if she trusted Draco Malfoy she wold have scoffed at them, but after how he had looked after, she was finding it harder to formulate an answer. She would have preferred to perform the healing spells herself, but for one she didn't have a wand that would work (as she assumed that healing spells would be too complicated for the training wand) and secondly she wasn't really in the right condition to be casting complex healing spells. And Draco was the second best in charms in the year, and he had treated her well so far.

"Yes" she answered him.

Draco smiled, not only had she said she trusted him, but she had also done so without much hesitation.

Draco set about using many different spells to heal mostly Hermione's external injuries, leaving most of the internal injuries, which were far more complicated and would be healed by the potion anyway. He healed her split lip, her 2 broken fingers and 3 broken toes using _episkey_. He used _ferula_ to bind and splint her fractured arm and used _vulnera sanentur_ to heal the deep cut that ran from her left shoulder, along her collar bone to the centre of her chest. He used a few other spells to finish healing her external injuries, prompted occasionally by Hermione, reminding him of a spell that might work, or adjusting his pronunciation. Just as Draco sat back, as he had finished, Misty appeared in front of the fireplace with a loud pop.

"Here is the potion you wanted sir. Misty hopes that it will heal the miss"

"Thank you" Draco replied kindly

"Master Draco is welcome, sir. Is there anything else Misty can do for him, sir?" she asked

"No I think that's…" Draco trailed off "Actually Misty, please could you get Hermione something to eat from the kitchens? Some soup would be good"

"Of course, sir. Misty will go now"

"Thank you Misty" Draco replied "And Misty, if anyone asks, the soup is for me"

The house elf nodded and disappeared with a pop.

Again Hermione was surprised by the way Draco had spoken to the house elf, and she could not get over his use of her first name. If sounded so foreign coming from the guy who had in the past only called her by insulting slurs. Draco handed her the bottle of healing potion. It was no bigger than her little finger and a beautiful gold colour. When Hermione uncorked it she was hit by the unmistakeable stink of Murtlap tentacle. She slowly raised the vial to her mouth and swallowed it in one go, a grimace appearing on her face.

"Sorry" Draco said "I should have warned you it isn't the most pleasant tasting potion"

Hermione scowled at him, a look of disgust in her face; though Draco could tell she wasn't really annoyed.

A second later Misty reappeared, and handed Draco a bowl of soup before disappearing again. "Here you go" Draco said, handing Hermione the bowl of steaming soup.

"Thank you" Hermione replied, her mouth watering as the inhaled the delicious smell of the soup.

"You're welcome" Draco answered "While you eat that, I'm going to go and get ready for bed"  
With that he retrieved some pyjamas from under the pillow on the bed and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Now Hermione was alone she had the chance to look at Draco's bedroom. She was surprised by the sheer scale of the room. She thought she had a large bedroom at home, but it was nothing compared to the size of Draco's room. His bedroom was a long rectangle split into two distinct areas, a bedroom and a sitting room, where she was now. The bedroom was so large, that just the sitting area alone was probably bigger than the entire ground floor of the Burrow. It was decorated in the same dark colours as the rest of the house, but every here and there she could make out small details that brightened the room, and made it feel more homely.

Now she looked she noticed the picture frame on his bedside table of a young boy with the same blond hair as Draco, who she assumed was his brother. There was a pile of parchment on the desk which Hermione assumed was homework that need to be done, and behind the chair Draco had been sitting it, against the wall, the was a long bookshelf overflowing with books that Hermione itched to have a look at. A poster on the wall next the wardrobe caught her eye, its bright orange standing out in the dark room. She realised with some amusement that it was a Quidditch poster, for none other than the chuddley cannons. She stifled a giggle as she thought of telling Ron that his worst enemy shared one of his greatest passions.

Just then Draco stepped out of the bathroom dressed in slytherin green pyjama bottoms and a plain black t-shirt.

"Are you ready to go to bed?" He Asked Hermione "I'm shattered"

"Yes" She replied "I nearly falling asleep now" she replied, slowly standing up, her movements becoming easier now the spells and the potion was kicking in.

She walked over the bed on the floor and made to lie down before Draco realised what she was doing.

"Wait" he called "Did you really think I would let you sleep on the floor after everything you've been through" he asked incredulously "Take the bed"

Hermione turned to look at him shocked. She had not expected him to offer her his bed.

"Are you sure" she asked. The thought of sleeping in Draco Malfoy's bed was really odd, but then again, the thought of sleeping on a proper mattress was so appealing.

"Yeah of course" Draco said whilst making shooing gestures towards the double bed as he walked over to the bed on the floor.

As they both climbed into their respective beds, Draco called out " I'll set an alarm on my wand for 6 o'clock, that should give us enough time to get you down to the cellar and out of here before anyone notices"

"Okay" Hermione replied, already starting to drift off into sleep. The room was quite for a second.

"Goodnight Hermione" Draco whispered

"Goodnight Draco"


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings: torture, insinuations of rape**

**I don't own Harry Potter etc.**

Draco woke sluggishly from his sleep and with his eyes still closed patted the floor to find his wand and switch off the piercing alarm. He hadn't slept well on the hard floor and as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position he could feel the muscles in his back and neck protesting.

Hermione lay in bed for a minute thankful that Draco had switched off the ear-piercing alarm, before she too sat up. She yawned loudly, stretching her arms, and then turned her attention to Draco.

"Morning" she said

"Morning" Draco grunted in reply, looking at her through eyes still half closed with sleep "Urgh.. this is far too early"

Hermione laughed quietly, it seemed Draco wasn't much of a morning person.

Draco slowly stood up, throwing on a hoodie that was thrown over the back of his desk chair, before slowly turning round took face Hermione.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He asked.

"I don't need breakfast" Hermione responded, getting out of the bed "I would prefer to just get going and get out this house as soon as possible"

"That's stupid" Draco retorted

Hermione looked at him sharply. He really wasn't a morning person.

"What?" She asked him harshly

"The healing spells might have helped but you're still not properly sorted, and apparating on an empty stomach would just make it worse. It's still dangerous for you to apparate, but it would be safer if you'd eat something first, you know that" Draco explained

Hermione scowled, hating to agree with him after his little outburst, but he was right.

"Fine, I'll just have some toast please. Just butter"

Draco rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to call Misty when suddenly she heard a knock at the door.

Draco's eyes widened as he turned to Hermione with shock and fear evident on his features. He froze for a second.

"One second" he called, quickly gesturing to Hermione.

She hurriedly shoved the makeshift bed on the floor underneath Draco's bed, before running into the bathroom as Draco had motioned.

"Draco" came Lucius' impatient voice from behind the door "Draco, what are you doing? Open the door"

"Coming" Draco called, crossing the room and opening his door.

Lucius walked into the bedroom, looking around.

"Where is she" he asked.

"She's just in the bathroom" Draco replied.

Lucius nodded.

"Listen, Bella hardly slept last night. She wants to know how that mudblood got into her vault. She wants to have another go now. She sent me to come and get you."

"This early?" Draco asked, trying to hide the panic he was feeling.

"Yes Draco. Just get dressed quickly, I'll wait outside"

"I do know my way around my own house. I can find my own way downstairs" Draco replied sarcastically."

"Just do it Draco." Lucius answered angrily "Bella is hysterical and I'm not in the mood to deal with that" He said grumpily, walking back into the corridor, pulling the door shut behind him.

The second he left Draco ran over to the bathroom door, wrenching it open. Hermione had everything Lucius had said, and was worriedly pacing the room.

"What do we do?" Hermione asked simply, trying to get herself under control.

"I don't know" Draco replied, looking at Hermione with desperation "We have to go with him, if we don't leave voluntarily he will just drag us down."

"I know" Hermione replied shakily, not quite managing to contain her fear at facing Bellatrix again.

"I won't let her torture you again" Draco said, reaching out to grasp Hermione's arm.  
Hermione nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"You should probably, get changed back into your clothes" Draco said, gesturing to the pile of dirty clothes in the corner of the room, lying where Hermione had thrown them the night before.  
Again Hermione nodded in understanding.

Draco slowly walked out of the bathroom, hearing the door click shut behind him. As he quickly got changed, he thought about what he was going to do. He didn't' know how he was going to stop Bellatrix, but he did know there was no way that he was going to let her hurt Hermione again. Just as Hermione reappeared, dressed in her own clothes, Lucius shouted through the door.

"Draco! Hurry up" He shouted

"Coming father" Draco replied

He looked to Hermione once more, a look of understanding passing between them, before he open the door.

"Come on Granger" Draco said harshly, getting back into character, before he roughly grabbed Hermione's jacket and started to drag her down the dark corridor after his father.

xxx 

Harry and Ron were sitting in the corner of the cellar, sitting on the cold floor, leaning against the hard wall. After Harry had finally managed to calm Ron, and himself down, they had both fallen into a fitful sleep. Neither of them had gotten more than 3 hours sleep and had both given up on the idea of sleep at around 4 o'clock. For the last couple of hours they had been trying to come up with a way to escape the cellar, occasionally being interjected by Luna, Griphook and Ollivander. However for the last half an hour, everyone had been sitting in near silence. Not long ago Pettigrew had ventured down into the cellar to grab Griphook, who Bellatrix wanted to 'talk' to. Everyone was worried about what was happening to the goblin, but also that they would be next.

In the silence of the room there was a sudden pop. The four captives all turned towards the sound, and were shocked to see a small house elf standing in the centre of the cellar. Harry and Ron both instantly recognized Dobby and called out to him.

"Dobby, what are you doing here?" Harry questioned.

"Dobby has come to rescue Harry Potter of course" the small elf answered "Dobby will always be there for Harry Potter"

"Are you saying that you can apparate in and out of this room?" Harry asked "Could you take us with you?"

"Of course sir, I'm an elf"

Harry looked to Ron

"Works for me" Ron said

"Right Dobby. I want you to take Luna and Mr Ollivander to –" Harry started to instruct

"Shell Cottage, on the outskirts of Teignmouth" Ron said, before turning to Harry "Trust me"

"Whenever you're ready Sir" Luna said to the elf

"Sir. I like her very much" Dobby said with a small smile, pointing at the quirky girl.

Dobby moved to stand between Luna and Ollivander. As he grasped both their hands he turned to Harry and Ron.

"Meet me at the top of the stairs in 10 seconds" He instructed, disappearing with a small pop.

Just as soon as Dobby had left, Ron and Harry heard footsteps coming down the stairs to the cellar and quickly hid themselves on either side of the door, so as to be hidden from the view of Pettigrew. Pettigrew unlocked the door and slowly looked around the clear, shock appearing on his face as none of the prisoners were to be seen. He took one step into the cellar before he was suddenly struck hard on the back of his head and fell forward on his face with a dull thud. Harry and Ron peered cautiously up past Pettigrew, but upon seeing Dobby standing at the top, they both started to quietly climb the stairs.

Xxx

Lucius led Draco and Hermione into the same room as the night before. Hermione was surprised to see that tied to a chair in the centre of the room was Griphook the goblin. Bellatrix appeared to be questioning the Goblin along the same lines as she had down Hermione the night before.

"Who got into my vault?" Bellatrix shouted at the Goblin "Who stole it? Who stole it? Well?"

"When I was last in your vault the sword was there" Griphook answered

"Well perhaps it just walked out on its own then" Bellatrix said sarcastically

"There is no place safer than Gringotts"

"LIAR" screamed Bellatrix, suddenly losing her semi-calm demeanour, and flicking her knife across the goblin's cheek.

Just the she noticed Lucius sanding in the doorway, Draco and Hermione behind him. Draco was still clasping Hermione's arm, but the grip was not tight and he was lightly stroking her arm with his thumb, which was hidden from Bellatrix's view by Lucius. Hermione surprised herself but not tensing at the touch, and instead felt grateful to Draco for helping to calm her. It seemed to her that he was trying to remind her that he wouldn't led his crazy aunt hurt her, and for that she was incredibly thankful.

"Ahh, here's the Mudblood" Bellatrix called out as Hermione came into view "Did you have fun with her last night Draco?"

"Yes I did thank you aunt" Draco replied "Although I'm not sure that she particularly enjoyed it"  
Bellatrix cackled with delight, and Hermione was surprised by the ease at which Draco could switch personality.

"Come here Mudblood" Bellatrix cooed

Slowly Hermione moved forward, away from the comforting closeness of Draco, and stood in front of Bellatrix.

"I still don't know how you got that sword from my vault" Bellatrix said quietly, leaning in so her face was centimetres from Hermione's.

"I don't know. I told you." Hermione replied, flinching away from Bellatrix "It just appeared. We didn't do anything" Hermione pleaded.

Bellatrix's eyes sparked, and she suddenly drew her arm back.

Before Hermione had a chance to react, Bellatrix had slapped her round the face. The force of the blow was incredible and sent her crashing to the floor, crying out in pain. Next to his father Draco tensed. He knew right then that he couldn't do anything, but he hated to see Hermione hurt.

Xxx

Harry and Ron had slowly made their way up the stone stairs and had crouched at the top, just out of sight, listening to Griphook's interrogation. When they heard Bellatrix great Hermione they both froze looking at each other. When Draco mentioned his night with Hermione, Harry reacted just in time, grabbing Ron and restraining him before anyone could see them.

"We need to catch them by surprise, and at the moment we can't even see them" Harry whispered into Ron's ear "We need to get closer, it's our best chance of saving Hermione. Okay?" He asked.  
Ron nodded, and Harry slowly released his friend, ready to catch him again if he tried to barge up the stairs.

Ron had understood the need to at least see the layout of the room before the rushed in, and so slowly, he and Harry crept up the last few steps and peered around the corner into the room. They both took in the situation before them, trying to work out the best way to grab Hermione and escape.

They watched as Bellatrix started to question Hermione again, when suddenly Hermione crashed to the floor with a cry of pain. That was it for Ron, he could not wait any longer and ran into the room, Harry hot on his heels.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Harry Potter etc.**

"Stupefy" Ron screamed at Bellatrix as he ran up the stairs.

The woman spun round, ducking Ron's spell, just in time to see Harry stupefy Lucius, who flew back against the wall.

The boys charged forwards, firing spells at Bellatrix and her sister as the duel began. Hermione, still lying on the floor, scuttled backwards into the corner. She wanted to help, but she was weak and unarmed, and knew that she would be more of a hindrance to the boy's efforts.

Draco was still standing at the back of his room, where he had been next to his father. He appeared almost petrified. Inside, his thoughts were warring – he was on the trio's side, but any lack of attack would bring Bellatrix's suspicion down on him.

He stepped forward, firing spells at the two boys, which somehow missed their target each time. From her position in the corner, Hermione could tell what Draco was doing, and in the midst of her fear, she felt truly grateful she had decided to trust him.

Unfortunately, Harry and Ron were unaware of Draco's change of allegiance, and they began firing spells at him unrelentingly. Draco was forced to up his wand-work, all his attention focused on shielding himself against the boys' spells.

"STOP" Hermione screamed from the corner of the room.

The duellers spun round to face the sound. It seemed that while everyone was focused on the fight, Bellatrix had managed to sneak to the back of the room and now had Hermione clasped in front of her, a knife pushing against her throat.

"Drop your wands" Bellatrix ordered.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, terrified of what the mad woman would do next. They both dropped their wands to the floor. Draco ran forward to grab the wands, thinking that they might come in useful later.

Bellatrix gripped Hermione's hair, pulling her head back and exposing her pale throat further.

"Look who we have here, the boy who lived, just in time to meet the Dark Lord" Bellatrix cackled. "Call him Draco" she said, turning to her nephew.

Draco shrunk back. He couldn't outwardly disobey his aunt, but there was no way her was bring the Dark Lord here. He needed time to formulate a plan to get Hermione, and the other two, out of here safely.

Lucius, who by this time was moving again, scowled at his son and stepped forward. He roughly pulled his sleeve, exposing the horrible black tattoo. He was about to summon his Master, when he heard a squeaking noise from above.

Everyone in the room looked up, suddenly noticing the small house elf who was hurriedly unscrewing the chandelier right above Bellatrix and Hermione.

Suddenly the chandelier fell, and Bellatrix flung herself backwards, taking Hermione with her. In the commotion Harry ran forward and seized the wands from Draco. At the same time Hermione managed to free herself from Bellatrix's tight grasp and started to run forwards, towards Ron.

Harry grabbed Griphook and ran towards Ron, just as Dobby appeared next to him. Harry grabbed Griphook and Dobby with either hand as the house elf reached forward, holding onto Ron's arm.

Hermione ran forwards, and for a second Draco thought she was going to make it. Dobby readied himself to apparate, waiting till Hermione was touching Ron. Her hand got closer, it was millimetres away, and Dobby began to apparate. In that instant, Bellatrix, who had silently surged forward grabbed Hermione by the hair with one hand and threw her knife at the elf with the other.

There was a pop.

For second, Draco wasn't sure what had happened. But then he took in the room. The brave elf had managed to rescue his friends, but he had been a second too early. With a howl, Bellatrix threw Hermione to the floor.

Bellatrix had no words, she screamed and howled, and flew out of the room slamming the door behind her in fury.

The Malfoys were frozen so Lucius decided to take charge.

"Narcissa, go see to Scorpius, Bella's screams will likely have woken him."

He then turned to his son. "Draco, get rid of her. Get her out of Bella's sight. Put her in the cellar" he said, gesturing to the broken girl on the floor. He then turned and left the room, following Narcissa.

As soon as the door closed, Draco ran forward to Hermione.

The girl was distraught. She had come so close to getting out of this nightmare, but she was now stuck here, all alone.

But she wasn't alone, she was reminded, as Draco gently pulled her into his arms.

Hermione froze, before melting into him, sobbing against his chest.

"Come on" Draco said, making to stand. "We need to get you out of here before my aunt comes back".

Slowly, he helped Hermione to her feet, leading her down the steps to the cellar. He led her gently into the makeshift cell, and helped lower her onto the floor.

"Hermione, Hermione look at me" he said, squatting in front of her.

She raised her eyes, meeting his gaze.

"I'm going to get you out of here, I promise, but right now I need to go"

"No-" Hermione started.

Draco stopped her, putting his hand on her arm.

"If I am down here too long, my father will notice my absence and come looking for me. That wouldn't be good for either of us. I am going to head back to my chambers and come up with a plan, I will be back for you in a couple of hours. In the meantime, I will get Misty to bring you some food and more medicine. We need you ready to move."

"Okay", Hermione answered slowly, "Thank you Draco".

"Thank me when I get you out of here" Draco said in reply.

He stood up, walking to the door. As he turned to lock her in, he could see some of her fight returning as she met his eyes and nodded.

**Please leave reviews - it will motivate me to write more!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Harry Potter etc.**

**Warnings: Mentions of torture, swearing**

In his room, Draco paced back and forth as he tried to find a way out of this terrible situation. Not only did he need to sneak Hermione out of the cellar, he also had to try and convince his mother and little brother to come too, leaving Lucius behind.

Narcissa was much like her eldest son. Born into a pureblood family with pureblood morals, she was initially the perfect child but as she got older, she began to question the family rules, especially when her sister was so heartlessly erased from the Black family tree. But Narcissa was not as brave as her son, and had stayed in the family fold, eventually marrying and having children, trapping her even further.

Draco lowered himself into one of his armchairs as he began to formulate a plan. While it would be difficult for him to get back down to the cellar without his aunt or one of her cronies seeing him, house elves could apperate into spaces with anti-apperation wards, so it would be easy for Misty to sneak Hermione out. But then things would need to move fast. That meant that first he needed to pack and then he needed to go and speak to his mother.

Draco called to Misty and the house elf appeared immediately.

"Misty, please could you go into the kitchens and find any food that won't go off and any bottles of water and then bring it back here – I need as much as you can find. I also need all of the winter clothing we have and the tent that mother and I played with in the grounds when I was small." he instructed, then as an after thought he added "and all the medications and first aid things we have – especially the medications you gave to Hermione last night."

"Of course, Master. Misty will do that now" she said before disappearing with a pop.

While Misty was getting the food, Draco started gathering warm clothes for himself and Hermione as well as blankets and throws. He then routed around in the back of his wardrobe for his old rucksack. When he found it, he cast an extension charm on the pack, before filling it with everything he had assembled.

Draco also packed some more sentimental items as he thought it would be unlikely that he would return to the manor, at least for a long time. He gathered a photo of his family taken on the day Scorpius was born, his beloved broom (which he shrunk to fit into the bag) and a couple of his favourite books. He also took two books off the shelves that he had seen Hermione staring at the night before. He figured that it would be good for her to immerse herself in a different world for a bit.

That moment, he heard a pop and Misty reappeared behind him.

"Here you go master. Misty has everything you asked for." The elf said, handing Draco a similarly charmed bag.

Draco took the bag gratefully.

"Thank you, Misty, I'm really grateful for your help. Could you do something else for me?"

"Of course, Master. Misty is here to help"

"Hermione is in the cellar. Please could you take her some food and water and these medicines" He replied, reaching into Misty's bag and finding the vial he was after.

"Yes sir" the elf replied getting ready to apperate.

"And Misty" Draco called "I will need your help again soon"

XXX

Draco finished packing and then slowly peered around his door. When he was sure there was no one there, he crept down the corridor to his brother's room, hoping his mother would still be there.

Draco quietly pushed the door open. The room appeared empty, but then he heard a noise from the cot in the corner of the room. Making his way over to the cot, a smile broke out on Draco's face at the sight of his little brother.

"Draco" Scorpius called out. Draco chuckled and reached out to pick up his little brother.

"How are you Scorp? Aren't you meant to be asleep?"

"Bella woke him up"

Draco spun round to see his mother emerging from the bathroom.

"Mother - " Draco started.

"What are you doing here Draco, you know it's not safe to walk around when Bella is in one of her moods"

"I know, but I need to speak with you. Can we - " Draco gestured with his free hand to the chairs in front of the fireplace.

Narcissa went and sat down while Draco picked up one of Scorpius' favourite toys, placing it and his brother on the rug in front of him and his mother.

He eased himself into the other chair, not sure how to start the conversation. Eventually he decided it would be better to just come out with it.

"I'm leaving and I think you and Scorpius should come with me"

Narcissa looked at him sharply.

"Draco - " she started.

"Mother let me explain." Draco interrupted. "We are on the wrong side of this war and you know that. I can't stand by while Bella and others torture and kill people for no reason. This whole thing is based on the ridiculous idea of blood purity and we both know that that is rubbish. It makes no sense that people are treating muggle-borns or half-bloods as inferior, let alone killing them.

"And this house isn't safe anymore, not with Bella and her psychotic mood swings and sadist friends. We need to get out. And I plan on getting out with Hermione today, and hopefully with you and Scorpius"

Narcissa looked shocked. Her and Draco had never spoken about their views before, and whilst she had started to expect this over the last couple of years, it was still a shock to hear.

"Draco you're right, but I can't leave. I can't leave your father"

"Mother please. I know you love him, but he has become a terrible man. And it's not safe for you and Scorpius here – we need to get out" Draco begged.

"I can't leave him Draco. I know he has done some terrible, horrendous things but he is just scared and trying to protect us"

"Ha" Draco barked out a sarcastic laugh. "He should have protected us by not getting involved with all this blood supremacy shit in the first place. And definitely not getting involved the second time around – he got out for god's sake!"

"Draco, I know you don't believe me but the man I married is still in there somewhere and I can't leave him here alone to loose that last little piece of himself"

She paused, thinking.

"But you should take your brother with you. You're right – it's not safe for him anymore."

Draco froze, he was hoping to take Scorpius with him, but he wasn't sure how he would cope with a three-year-old, on the run, on his own.

**Again, please please please review!**


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